Much has been said about the dulling economy and the impending slew of retrenchments that is coming our way. The challenge here would be to flatten the curve before we experience these spikes. Much like the COVID-19 efforts of the government to ensure that the spikes in number of COVID-19 infections are well controlled, likewise, spikes in unemployment within the economy should also be smoothen, to allow for newly unemployed persons to be matched with suitable jobs so as to transit them seamlessly.
Would the creation of COVID resistant jobs be the answer to the million dollar question? What kinds of jobs are resilient enough and can thrive in an uncertain economy? As they say, the problems of tomorrow cannot be solved with the solutions of today. What paradigm shifts of mindsets would help us combat this uphill batter?
Is it just a case of re-skilling the workforce with new knowhow to fit new jobs? Would investment into R&D to create these new services be the answer to transit workers with suitable transferable skills? Would government aid help to tide over the short-to-medium term structural unemployment?
Would technology enable us to create new income streams against conventional ways of making money. Would we see the birth of the new Tik Tok celebrity or YouTube sensation? Would rank and file retrenched workers have the creative resolve to innovate beyond their troubled circumstances?
That remains to be seen.